Editing Samson (section)

==Cultural influence==
{{Main article|Cultural references to Samson}}
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[[File:Samson's Tomb.jpg|thumb|Alleged site of Samson's tomb in the Zorah (Tzora) forest]]
As an important biblical character, Samson has been referred to in popular culture and depicted in a vast array of films, artwork, and popular literature. Preserved Smith argued that [[John Milton]]'s [[closet drama]] ''[[Samson Agonistes]]'' is an [[allegory]] for the downfall of the [[Puritans]] and the [[Restoration (England)|restoration of the English monarchy]]<ref name="Smith1930">{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Preserved|title=A History of Modern Culture|date=1930|publisher=University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-1108074643|page=387|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CfnCAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA387 }}</ref> in which the blinded and imprisoned Samson represents Milton himself,<ref name="Smith1930"/> the "Chosen People" represent the Puritans,<ref name="Smith1930"/> and the Philistines represent the [[Cavalier|English Royalists]].<ref name="Smith1930"/> The play combines elements of [[ancient Greek tragedy]] and biblical narrative.<ref>{{cite book|last=Teskey|first=Gordon|date=2006|title=Delirious Milton: The Fate of the Poet in Modernity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lZxlAAAAMAAJ|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0674010697|page=144}}</ref> Samson is portrayed as a hero,<ref name=Lieb1994>{{cite book|last=Lieb|first=Michael|date=1994|title=Milton and the Culture of Violence|url=https://archive.org/details/miltoncultureofv00lieb|url-access=registration|location=London|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0801429033}}</ref> whose violent actions are mitigated by the righteous cause in whose name they are enacted.<ref name=Lieb1994/> The play casts Delilah as an unrepentant, but sympathetic, deceiver<ref name=Guillory1986>{{cite book|last=Guillory|first=John|author-link=John Guillory|date=1986|article=Dalila's House: ''Samson Agonistes'' and the Sexual Division of Labor|title=Rewriting the Renaissance: The Discourses of Sexual Difference in Early Modern Europe|editor1-last=Ferguson|editor1-first=Margaret|editor2-last=Quilligan|editor2-first=Maurren|editor3-last=Vickers|editor3-first=Nancy|location=Chicago|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0226243146|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9rW7EHRNJ0sC}}</ref> and speaks approvingly of the [[Patriarchy|subjugation of women]].<ref name=Guillory1986/>

In 1735, [[George Frideric Handel]] wrote the [[oratorio]] ''[[Samson (Handel)|Samson]]'',<ref name="Leneman2000">{{cite book|last1=Leneman|first1=Helen|article=Portrayals of Power in the Stories of Delilah and Bathsheba: Seduction in Song|title=Culture, Entertainment, and the Bible|editor-last=Aichele|editor-first=George|date=2000|publisher=Sheffield Academic Press|isbn=184127075X|page=153|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_efFTiILLkC&pg=PA153 }}</ref> with a [[libretto]] by [[Newburgh Hamilton]], based on ''Samson Agonistes''.<ref name="Leneman2000"/> The oratorio is almost entirely set inside Samson's prison<ref name="Leneman2000"/> and Delilah only briefly appears in Part II.<ref name="Leneman2000"/> In 1877, [[Camille Saint-Saëns]] composed the opera ''[[Samson and Delilah (opera)|Samson and Delilah]]'' with a libretto by [[Ferdinand Lemaire]] in which the entire story of Samson and Delilah is retold.<ref name="Leneman2000"/> In the libretto, Delilah is portrayed as a seductive ''[[femme fatale]]'',<ref name="Leneman2000"/> but the music played during her parts invokes sympathy for her.<ref name="Leneman2000"/> The narrative of Samson and Delilah is retold in [[indie pop]] singer [[Regina Spektor]]'s "[[Samson (Regina Spektor song)|Samson]]" (2002), which includes the lyrics "I cut his hair myself one night / A pair of dull scissors and the yellow light / And he told me that I'd done alright."<ref>{{cite magazine |first= Rincón|last=Alessandra|url= https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/the-late-show-regina-spektor-chilling-performance-samson-watch-8469051 |title= Regina Spektor Gives Chilling Performance Of 'Samson' On 'Late Show': Watch |date=August 7, 2018 |magazine= [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date= January 4, 2023}}</ref>

The 1949 [[List of films based on the Bible|biblical drama]] ''[[Samson and Delilah (1949 film)|Samson and Delilah]]'', directed by [[Cecil B. DeMille]] and starring [[Victor Mature]] and [[Hedy Lamarr]] in the titular roles, was widely praised by critics for its cinematography, lead performances, costumes, sets, and innovative special effects.<ref>{{cite book|last=McKay|first=James|title=The Films of Victor Mature|publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2013|isbn=978-0786449705|page=76}}</ref> It became the highest-grossing film of 1950,<ref>{{cite book|last=Barton|first=Ruth|title=Hedy Lamarr: The Most Beautiful Woman in Film|location=Lexington|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|year=2010|isbn=978-0813126104|page=174}}</ref> and was nominated for five [[Academy Awards]], winning two.<ref>{{cite web|title=23rd Academy Awards Winners|date=4 October 2014 |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1951|publisher=www.oscars.org}}</ref> According to ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', the film portrays Samson as a [[stereotype|stereotypical]] "handsome but dumb hulk of muscle".<ref>{{cite web|author=''Variety'' staff|title=Variety – Review: ''Samson and Delilah''|url=https://variety.com/1949/film/reviews/samson-and-delilah-1200416600/|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=31 December 1949}}</ref>

Samson has been especially honored in [[Russian culture#Visual arts|Russian artwork]]<ref name="Wortman">{{cite book|last1=Wortman|first1=Richard S.|title=Scenarios of Power: Myth and Ceremony in Russian Monarchy: From Peter the Great to the Abdication of Nicholas II|date=2006|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=978-0691123745|pages=25–26|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ykaVAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA26 }}</ref> because the Russians defeated the Swedes in the [[Battle of Poltava]] on the feast day of [[Sampson the Hospitable|St. Sampson]], whose name is [[homophone|homophonous]] with Samson's.<ref name="Wortman"/> The lion slain by Samson was interpreted to represent Sweden, as a result of the lion's placement on the [[Swedish coat of arms]].<ref name="Wortman"/> In 1735, C. B. Rastrelli's bronze statue of Samson slaying the lion was placed in the center of the great cascade of the fountain at [[Peterhof Palace]] in [[Saint Petersburg]].<ref name="Wortman"/>

Samson is the emblem of [[Lungau]], [[Salzburg (state)|Salzburg]],<ref name="Lungau">{{cite web|title=Samson:Emblem of Lungau|url=https://www.lungau.at/en/experience/heritage-tradition/the-giant-samson/|website=lungau.at|publisher=Saliburger Lungau|access-date=28 October 2017|archive-date=6 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406134134/https://www.lungau.at/en/experience/heritage-tradition/the-giant-samson|url-status=dead}}</ref> and parades in his honor are held annually in ten villages of the Lungau and two villages in the north-west [[Styria]] (Austria).<ref name="Lungau"/> During the parade, a young bachelor from the community carries a massive figure made of wood or aluminum said to represent Samson.<ref name="Lungau"/> The tradition, which was first documented in 1635,<ref name="Lungau"/> was entered into the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Austria in 2010.<ref name="Lungau"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Samsontragen im Lungau und Bezirk Murau |url=http://nationalagentur.unesco.at/cgi-bin/unesco/element.pl?eid=25 |website=Immaterielles Kulturerbe in Österreich |language=de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222122436/http://nationalagentur.unesco.at/cgi-bin/unesco/element.pl?eid=25 |archive-date=2015-12-22}}</ref>

=== Military and militant groups ===

Several current and historical military units or events have names that reference the story of Samson.
* [[Operation Samson]], by the [[Lehi (militant group) |Lehi militant group]] in 1947.
* The [[Samson Option]] nuclear strategy.
* [[Samson's Foxes]]
* [[Samson Unit]]